Due to his convalescence and delicate health, Pope Francis did not participate in the Palm Sunday Mass in St. Peter’s Square, which was presided over by Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, Vice Dean of the College of Cardinals.
In his previously prepared homily, the Holy Father reflected on Simon of Cyrene, who helped Jesus carry the cross.
Below is Pope Francis’ homily:
“Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!” ( Luke 19:38). This is how the crowd acclaims Jesus as he enters Jerusalem. The Messiah passes through the gate of the Holy City, wide open to welcome the One who, a few days later, will emerge from there banished and condemned, carrying the cross.
Today, we too have followed Jesus, first accompanying him festively and then on the Via Dolorosa, inaugurating Holy Week, which prepares us to celebrate the Lord’s passion, death, and resurrection.
As we contemplate the faces of the soldiers and the tears of the women in the crowd, our attention is drawn to a stranger whose name suddenly appears in the Gospel: Simon of Cyrene. This man was arrested by the soldiers, who “laid the cross on him, so that he might carry it behind Jesus” ( Lk 23:26). He was returning from the countryside, passing by, and found himself in a disturbing situation, like the heavy timber on his shoulders.
On the way to Calvary, let us reflect for a moment on Simon’s gesture , let us search his heart , let us follow in his footsteps alongside Jesus.
First, his gesture , which has a double meaning. On the one hand, the Cyrenian is indeed forced to carry the cross; he helps Jesus not out of conviction but out of obligation. On the other hand, he finds himself personally participating in the Lord’s Passion. Jesus’ cross becomes Simon’s cross. But not that Simon called Peter who had promised to always follow the Master. That Simon had disappeared on the night of the betrayal, after having declared: “Lord […], I am ready to go with you to prison and to death” ( Lk 22:33). Behind Jesus no longer walks the disciple, but this Cyrenian. Yet the Master had clearly taught: “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me” ( Lk 9:23). Simon of Galilee speaks, but does not act. Simon of Cyrene acts, but does not speak; between him and Jesus there is no dialogue, no word is spoken. Between him and Jesus there is only the wood of the cross.
To know whether the Cyrenian helped or hated the exhausted Jesus, with whom he had to share his suffering; to understand whether he carried or endured the cross, we must look at his heart . While God’s heart is about to open, pierced by a pain that reveals his mercy, man’s heart remains closed.
We don’t know what is in the heart of the Cyrenian. Let us put ourselves in his place: would we feel anger or pity, sadness or annoyance? If we remember what Simon did for Jesus, let us also remember what Jesus did for Simon—as he did for me, for you, for each one of us—he redeemed the world. The wooden cross that the Cyrenian holds is that of Christ, who bears the sin of all men. He carries it out of love for us, in obedience to the Father (cf. Lk 22:42), suffering with us and for us. This is precisely the unexpected and disconcerting way in which the Cyrenian finds himself involved in the history of salvation, where no one is a stranger, no one is a stranger.
Let us now follow in Simon’s footsteps , for he teaches us that Jesus goes out to meet everyone, in every situation. When we see the multitudes of men and women manifesting hatred and violence on the road to Calvary, let us remember that God transforms this road into a place of redemption, because he walked it, giving his life for us. How many Cyrenians carry the cross of Christ! Do we recognize them? Do we see the Lord in their faces, torn by war and misery? In the face of the atrocious injustice of evil, bearing the cross is never in vain; indeed, it is the most concrete way of sharing his saving love.
The passion of Jesus becomes compassion when we reach out to those who are helpless, when we lift up those who have fallen, when we embrace those who are disconsolate. Brothers and sisters, to experience this great miracle of mercy, let us decide during Holy Week how to carry the cross; not around our necks, but in our hearts. Not only our own, but also that of those who suffer around us; perhaps that of that unknown person whom chance—but is it just chance?—has caused us to meet. Let us prepare for the Lord’s Easter by becoming Cyrenians for one another.